Programmable thermostats can be a great way to save you money on energy. However, they can only provide savings when they are used properly.
A thermostat is an essential device that enables you to manage your home’s heating system efficiently and conveniently. Whether it’s a modern app-controlled unit or a traditional wall-mounted temperature dial, thermostats come in various shapes, sizes, and designs. However, their primary function remains the same: to regulate your heating system.
By setting your preferred temperature, the thermostat ensures your room or boiler maintains this level of warmth. When the indoor temperature falls below the set point, the thermostat activates the heating system to raise the temperature. Conversely, once the desired temperature is achieved, the thermostat automatically turns off the heating to prevent overheating and maintain a comfortable environment.
How does a Thermostat system work?
Programmable thermostats have a clock inside them that allows you to set the temperatures you want for your home at particular times of day and days of the week. There are two ways that a programmable thermostat helps save you money:
First, it automatically remembers to change temperatures for you so that your furnace or air conditioner doesn’t keep running if you ever forget to change your thermostat. So, for example, if you typically reduce your temperature during the day while you are gone to work, a programmable thermostat will make this change for you, so you don’t need to remember to do it yourself.
Secondly, a programmable thermostat can work even while you are asleep. So it can turn down or up temperatures while you were sleeping and then turn them back down or up before you awake.
How to Properly Use a Programmable Thermostat
For your programmable thermostat to work properly and save you money on your energy bill, there are five things that you need to do:
Understanding Your Thermostat Settings
If your home is equipped with central heating and cooling, you likely have a central thermostat to manage it. Regardless of whether it’s programmable, most thermostats share similar features, such as fan settings, heating modes, and cooling options. Familiarizing yourself with these settings can help you maximize comfort and efficiency in your home.
Properly Set Up
Be sure that the desired times and temperatures are properly set up for how you live. In other words, make sure that your thermostat is set to turn up and down your temperature at the proper times. If you haven’t taken the time to set your temperatures properly, you will find yourself overriding the programs, which defeats the purpose of having a programmable thermostat.
To effectively use a programmable thermostat is to understand the scheduling options it offers:
- Daily: Allows you to create a unique schedule for each day of the week.
- Weekly: This lets you set one schedule that applies to the entire week.
- Weekend Scheduling: Provides one schedule for weekdays and a different one for weekends.
Once you know which scheduling options your thermostat supports, you can tailor the settings to fit your family’s daily routine. This ensures that your home maintains the desired temperature at the right times, optimizing comfort and energy efficiency.
To maximize both comfort and energy efficiency in your home, it’s essential to set your programmable thermostat to optimal temperatures. Below is a guide to help you begin. Use these recommended temperatures as a starting point, then adjust according to your personal comfort preferences and routine.
If you don’t know how to set up your programmable thermostat, then you should contact your manufacturer. They can walk you through exactly how to set up your programmable thermostat.
Accurate Time Setting
Be sure that the clock on your programmable thermostat is set for the correct time of day and the correct day of the week. If the time and day are wrong, then you will not have the temperatures adjusted for when you want them to be. Especially check around changes in daylight savings times, when the clock in your programmable thermostat will likely need to be reset.
Regularly Clean Your Programmable Thermostat
From time to time you should open your programmable thermostat and carefully clean it. If it is dirty, this can sometimes affect how well it reads the temperature and how well it reacts.
Be sure that your programmable thermostat is installed at the level on the wall. Some models need to be perfectly horizontal to operate properly.Summary
Programmable thermostats can be a great way to help you to save energy. But to actually deliver these savings, you must use your programmable thermostats properly. We hope this article has helped you understand how your programmable thermostat works, and the five things that you need to do to make sure it is working properly.
